


Drops of Jupiter

by Vegetatarian



Series: Rhythmic Writings [1]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Action & Romance, Alpha Vegeta (Dragon Ball), Alternate Universe: Planet Vegeta Exists, Awesome Bulma Briefs, Bravery, Bulma Briefs/Vegeta Smut, Declarations Of Love, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship/Love, Genius Bulma Briefs, Idiots in Love, Love, Love/Hate, Romance, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Self-Doubt, Strength, Sweet, Tender Sex, Tenderness, True Love, Vegeta (Dragon Ball) Being an Asshole, Vegeta being Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:53:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26627815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vegetatarian/pseuds/Vegetatarian
Summary: This work is inspired by and dedicated to Train and their song, Drops of Jupiter, which has been dear to me since I was a child. This song has always given me such a warm feeling in my heart, even as a little girl, and the lyrics are so nice. This is also the first installment of my “Rhythmic Writings” series! Each piece in the series will be inspired by a song, so that might be fun for the readers! It’s certainly fun for me to write! If there’s a song you like and think might make for a good inspiration for a story, please don’t hesitate to drop your suggestions in the comments. I’d love to hear your ideas and possibly turn them into a work you’ll enjoy! I know I always answer comments super late, but I promise I always eventually see them and try to always respond. 🖤🖤This particular story is one of self-rediscovery where Bulma overcomes a struggle and falls in love in the process. I hope you enjoy it— it’s a bit different from my usual tropes and whatnot, but I hope you’ll still give it a shot. There’s some depictions of violence, nothing too wild, but I added the warning just in case so as not to trigger anyone. Thank you all so much for your continued support. Without further ado, here’s “Drops of Jupiter”. ✨🐉🌙🐲
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta
Series: Rhythmic Writings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937218
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	1. Return of Her Stay On the Moon

  
Working as a master mechanic on ships that were of alien technology and origin was, by no means, an easy job. For a particular blue haired genius, though, it was the most thrilling and enticing of jobs. Bulma Briefs had been working for the Saiyan Battle Force as a mechanic for a very long time. Now, she wasn’t required to wear the uniforms that the warriors wore, but they all certainly wished she did. 

She strutted into work Monday morning with a tube top and high waist sweats that hugged her curves a little too perfectly. Her voluptuous chest bounced with each purposeful step she took, and the eyes of the men (and even women) who watched her walk were glued to her chest. She quickly made it to her work station and grabbed her goggles, pulled on her work gloves, and got to busy tinkering. It’d been weeks since she’d had an actual project, as most everyone had been deployed, and she’d resorted to tinkering and trying to build _better_ ships. Improvement was always possible, and Bulma relished that fact. She had some music playing on her large stereo system that often would echo throughout the hangar, and as a result, everyone within a few yards of her workspace would be forced to jam out to whatever she chose to listen to. She’d recently been blasting breakup tunes, as she’d recently split with her boyfriend of almost twelve years.

“Would you turn that gods-awful shit off?” A gruff voice shouted behind her. 

Her brows knitted together in a fierce scowl as she turned to face the owner of the voice. It was the Captain, whom she’d met six months previously and found to be incredibly cocky. “Captain Vegeta. What a _blessing_ to have bestowed on me to be graced with your most _royal_ presence.” 

He felt an unbelievable aggravation bubble up inside of him, but he forced himself to keep his temper in check, lest he incinerate her in a single blast of ki. “Miss Briefs, you have a new assignment. Lieutenant Turles has returned from his exploration mission, with a fucked up ship. There will be five other ships coming in soon that I’ve no doubt will be in similar condition because none of those assholes use the landing sequence properly. Fix them.” 

She rested a hand on her hip. “Permission to remove landing sequence gear, your high ass?” She rolled her eyes. 

Vegeta set his jaw. “Granted, Miss Briefs. Fix your attitude, or be reprimanded for failure to respect your CO.” 

She scowled more. “CO? You are _not_ my commanding officer. I’m not on the squad, nor the force. Shove it, asshole!” 

Vegeta took a decisive step toward her with a scowl matching herd. “Then how about being fired for disrespecting your _employer_?” 

She scoffed at him. “Whatever. You won’t fire me, I’m the best in the business and there’s no one else worth the pay you’re giving me. Not that I need the money, of course.” She smirked triumphantly, fully convinced that she had him now. 

He chuckled darkly. “Well you’ve filed a bountiful amount of design plans and schematics here in the storage room of the hangar, which I’m sure you’re aware becomes SBF property once stored on the premises. Any idiot could reverse engineer using basic design plans from you since you’re thorough.” 

Her jaw clenched as she thought about how she wanted to strangle him. “Just give me the damn work order papers, asshole.” 

He smirked and frisbeed them into her hands. “Come to my office once you’ve finished, there are other things I need to discuss before the end of the month; namely the expansion of the hangar and your plans for it.” 

“Fine, whatever, Captain.” She rolled her eyes again and turned back to gather what she thought she’d need to fix Turles’ ship.

As she wiped the sweat from her face, Turles wandered over to her. “Hello, Miss Briefs.”

“Oh, hey. Did you need something?” She blinked. 

“Actually, I was wondering if there was a way you could remove the landing sequence? It malfunctions anyway.” 

“Wait, is that why no one uses it?”

“Well, we’ve tried to use it, but it has always malfunctioned and we crash land regardless.” Turles explained, his tail suddenly unwrapped from his waist and began to twitch nervously. 

“Oh, well if you guys had told me I could’ve fixed it.” Bulma smiled. “I’ll go ahead and fix them, but I’ll need you to explain what happens in terms of malfunctioning.” 

“We didn’t say anything because you’ve been sad and irritable.” Turles gulped. 

Bulma didn’t quite know how to respond to that, so she apologized. “I know I’ve been prickly these past few weeks, I recently got out of a relationship and it just… has me all messed up. But don’t be afraid to ask for help or adjustments if you need them, okay?” 

Turles smiled and visibly relaxed at that. “Alright, thank you, Miss Briefs. Except Vegeta, though, right?”

She tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean?” 

“Well, you hate him, right? So he can’t be as comfortable to ask for things right?”

“I don’t hate him, why would you think that?” 

“Well you’re always really aggressive around him.” Turles shrugged. 

“Well that’s just something I do when I—!” Bulma stopped herself, eyes going wide. “Uhm, yes well, uh, if you don’t need anything else, I’ll just finish patching up your ship.” 

Turles didn’t seem to notice the slip, or he at least didn’t bother mentioning it. “Thanks, I’ll let the others know.” 

It wasn’t long before she took a break, and walked to the Captain’s office. “Knock knock.” She said quietly as she walked into his office. 

Vegeta was seated at his desk with his feet propped up on the corner. “Miss Briefs.” 

“Captain.” She mumbled as she took a seat in front of his desk. 

He raised an eyebrow at her quiet tone before standing up and walking over to the door and closing it. He took a seat on her side of his desk so that he was right in her bubble. “I trust you’ve finished Turles’ ship?” 

“Of course I did!” She grouched, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance. 

“Excellent. I have to attend an important Gala.” 

Bulma’s face twisted in confusion. “Uh, okay?” 

“You’ll accompany me.” 

“Come again?” She frowned. 

“I need a date for the evening and you’re the only woman within light years of this place who wouldn’t be unbearable to have to accompany me.” 

“Is that supposed to be a compliment? And weren’t we going to discuss the plans for the new hangar expansion?” She frowned deeper, her forehead creasing more. 

“Well it wasn’t an insult. We’ll discuss the hangar at a later time. I just needed to make sure you didn’t blow off the meeting.” He frowned back at her. ”Wear something formal. I don’t want to be embarrassed.” 

Bulma guffawed at him in disbelief. “I haven’t even agreed to go with you, asshole!”

Vegeta leaned so that his hands were resting on either armrest of Bulma’s chair and he was staring into her eyes. “Are you telling me no?” 

Bulma swallowed nervously. “I’ll go to the damn thing if you _ask_ me properly.” 

“Miss Briefs,” he began, standing up straight and now speaking in a gentlemanly tone of voice, “might you accompany me to the gala tomorrow night as my date?” 

Bulma sighed. “Yeah, okay. What’s this gala for, anyway?” 

Vegeta rolled his eyes. “It’s not important. But wear something bright colored.” 

“Why?” She asked. 

He looked at her again. “Just do it. You’re dismissed.” He went back to his chair and propped his heels up on the corner of his desk again. 

Fine. She’d wear something so stunning no one at the event would even notice him. Bastard.

* * *

The next evening, Bulma’s work pager was buzzing and buzzing until she finally stomped over to it to tell whoever it was to piss off. It was the Captain asking if she was ready. She growled at the pager. She sent back a message for him to just call her damn phone.

Within seconds, her phone was ringing. 

“ _What?_ ” She hissed into the phone. 

“What the fuck is taking you so long, woman? I don’t wish to be late. You better fucking look good for the amount of time you’re wasting.” 

Bulma’s he dropped at his audacity. “Listen here you fucker! I’ll be ready in a few minutes! I’m putting my dress on and finishing my makeup. I’ll be at the hangar soon, now fuck off.” She hung up and went back to the mirror and started applying cherry red lipstick and pouring her lips at her reflection. Once she was satisfied, she walked back to her closet and slid her glittery, red, form fitting, floor length gown with a dangerously high slit on the right side over her curvy hips and smirked to herself as the dress hugged her breasts perfectly. It was strapless and backless, and she was wearing black strappy heels with it. She was ready. Once her transport arrived at the hangar, she looked around but didn’t see the Captain. She called him back. 

“Done fucking around?” His voice said immediately. 

“Fuck you! Where are _you_?” Bulma snarled into the phone. 

“Ballroom Delta.” 

“Okay, I guess I’ll walk over unaccompanied since you’re not a fucking gentleman.” Bulma hung up abruptly and tried to calm herself as she made her way over. The doors were closed, so she pushed one open. All at once, Bulma felt like a fool. This was a black tie event, and she’d committed a faux pas by wearing red. That bastard had purposely done this to embarrass her and now she was going to murder him since the blood wouldn’t leave a noticeable stain on her dress. She searched the room for him, trying to ignore the stares pointed at her. 

“... _Bulma_?” She heard his stupid voice and spun around to yell at him, but the wind was knocked out of her lungs by what she saw. 

Her Captain… was wearing the _Royal_ _Saiyan crest_ on his uniform? “C-Captain?” Bulma blinked. 

His face was stained pink. “You look… lovely. Red is very becoming on you.” His eyes traced the shape of her hips. 

Bulma gulped. “You clean up nice, too.” 

His uniform was fitted perfectly to his body, and he looked so intimidating. He offered his arm to her, which she took wordlessly. “Let’s get some horderves.” 

She nodded. 

They walked together to the table with the horderves, and all eyes in the room were on them. He gently placed his hand on the small of her back to politely guide her to the table ahead of him, and her skin felt hot from the touch of his gloved hand on her back. It felt strong even just but gently touching her. 

“I’ll be back in a moment. Don’t go anywhere.” Vegeta said in a hushed tone. 

Bulma nodded as she reached for some fruit tarts with strawberries resting on top of them and a deviled egg. She looked around to make sure no one was looking, and then quickly shoved the entire deviled egg into her mouth, her eyes rolling back at the flavor. It was delicious. 

“What the fuck are you doing here, Fasha?” Vegeta grumbled. 

“Ah, hello there, Princey. Well you kept ignoring my pages so I thought I’d just come to you. I figured you’d need a date.” Fasha winked at him. 

Vegeta smirked. “I have a date, actually.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I know you’re mad about being dumped, but trying to leech attention by being seen around me certainly isn’t going to make you feel better or get him back.” 

Fasha rolled her eyes. “I’m trying to make him jealous, idiot. Turles can’t resist me. He’ll see us together and come running in an instant! Now, where is my lover?” she looked around the room until her lips parted in a gasp. “...Your date wouldn’t happen to be wearing _red_ , would she?” 

“Yes, why?” Vegeta turned to follow her line of sight and clenched his teeth at the swarm of men around her. She looked uncomfortable. “I’ll be back.” 

He stalked over to the group. Bulma was awkwardly eating a fruit tart as a man reached over to wrap his arm around his waist. “Bulma.” 

Her eyes snapped up to meet his, and lit up in relief when she saw him. “Come with me.” He reached his hand out, which she took. He shot a death glare to the other men who quickly dispersed and his face turned red when he felt her lace her fingers through his. 

“Thank you. I didn’t know what to do.” Bulma whispered, her bottom lip quivering. 

He’d never seen her like this before, so broken looking and lacking in confidence. “I shouldn’t have left you. You’re the most beautiful woman in the room, so these fucking simpletons clearly couldn’t control themselves. I apologize for leaving you.” 

She looked up at him with tears just barely welling in her eyes and tried to smile at him. “No harm done.” Her hand was shaking in his and all at once, Vegeta felt like such an asshole. 

“Would you like to stay or should we leave?” He asked. 

“But I just got here, I can’t leave. And don’t you have to be here?” 

“You can leave whenever you wish, but I wouldn’t send you home in this state by yourself.” He said. 

“We can stay longer, I’m okay.” She insisted. 

“Alright. A bit longer. Then we’ll leave and get some _real_ food.” He said, walking back toward Fasha, still holding Bulma’s hand. 

Fasha lit up when she saw Bulma. “You’re so beautiful!” 

Bulma smiled. “You are, too. I’m Bulma.” She reached out to shake the woman’s hand. 

“I’m a hugger actually, are you comfortable with that?” Fasha asked. 

“Yes!” Bulma stepped forward and greeted the tall Saiyan woman with a hug. 

“I’m Fasha. I was gonna try and be the Prince’s date tonight but he informed me you were his date!” She smiled. 

Bulma raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, did you say the _Prince_?” 

“Nice, Fasha. Thanks.” Vegeta rolled his eyes. 

“You didn’t tell her?” Fasha’s eyes widened. 

“He didn’t.” 

“Because she already treats me like a snobby asshole since I’m her Captain. Now she has genuine reason to.” Vegeta dropped his face into his palm. 

Bulma laughed loudly. “You’re right, I do.” She turned her attention back to Fasha. “I’m sorry though, I didn’t realize you and the _prince_ were something special, I would’ve declined.” She looked at Vegeta pointedly. 

Fasha pretended to gag. “I only wanted to go with him so my ex would notice me, get jealous, and swoop in and snatch me up again.” 

Bulma nodded. “Ah, I see. Well, if you want to get his attention, I could probably help a little, if you’d like.”

Fasha gently grabbed Bulma’s shoulders. “Yes! Please!” 

Bulma applied some lipstick to Fasha’s lips and mascara to her eyelashes. “Now, go find your man.” She smiled reassuringly to Fasha. 

“Thanks!” Fasha quickly walked off to find Turles. 

“If you’d like to leave now, we can. I certainly don’t want to be here any longer. I was only required to show up, anyway. My father can handle this gala on his own.” 

Bulma’s blue eyes glanced up at his. “I’m doing alright to stay, if you want to. I feel safer now.” She squeezed his hand gently and his neck felt hot. 

“I’d like to leave.” He said. 

“Okay, lead the way.” 

As they were leaving, Bulma saw him. The man who’d assaulted her during a mugging two months prior. He’d been acquitted and released to freedom. He’d given her a beating when she’d refused to give him the necklace her grandmother had given her on her twelfth birthday. She’d given him her wallet and the keys to her car, but he’d wanted everything she’d had on her person. She froze, and Vegeta quickly noticed. She started to stutter in fear, and her whole body began to shake. 

The man happened to glance in her direction and suddenly the look on his face went from a casual smile to one of malice. 

“H-he mugged m-me and then b-beat me up.” Bulma forced herself to say as her lips quivered and her eyes began to pour out tears. 

There it was. The blue haired woman hadn’t been herself in months, and it had almost seemed like her mind had been somewhere else entirely, like she’d been mentally stranded on the moon. She was not herself, but she hadn’t said anything to anyone about what had happened. 

“He will not hurt you, Bulma. I can promise you that.” 

She looked at him. “Maybe not now.” 

The man started towards them until Vegeta pierced him with a murderous glare. He gently tightened his hand around Bulma’s and then moved to wrap his arm around her waist in a possessive grasp. “Feel like playing pretend for a second or two?” 

“S-Sure thing.” She stammered. 

“Okay. Don’t panic.” He said as his face melted into an expression Bulma hadn’t even known he was capable of having on his face. It was soft and almost loving as he looked at her, and he tilted her chin up to look at him. He slid his hand to her cheek to shield her lips as he leaned in and kissed her chin. When he pulled away, he smiled softly. “Let’s go, okay?” 

She nodded, and they walked past the attacker. Vegeta gave him another murderous glare as they passed by, and pulled Bulma a little closer. 

Once they were off base and in the city, Bulma let out a gasp of air she didn’t know she was holding in. 

“You will inform me immediately if he tries to intimidate or hurt you.” Vegeta said, using his Captain voice again. “Give me your pager.” 

She obeyed, and he programmed something into it before handing it back to her. “What did you do?” 

“If you’re in distress, press these two buttons at the same time. It’ll send a distress page to my pager as well as my squad’s, and we’ll track you down as fast as we can.” 

“What if you’re deployed?” She asked. 

“I’ll program it to page whoever is standing in for us if we’re deployed.” 

“I thought you hated me.” Bulma blinked in confusion. 

He looked back at her before finally answering. “Actually I’m quite fond of you. You aren’t the type to just take whatever I dish out, you dish it right back.” 

Bulma smiled sadly. ‘I used to be like that with everyone, but I’m afraid that person is gone. I just know you’ll be in a shit ton of trouble if you hurt me.” 

Vegeta turned her face to look straight at his. “I’d never hurt you, Bulma. Real men don’t put their hands on women unless it’s to convey mutual affection.” 

Bulma smirked. “So that’s why you held my hand, then? To convey mutual affection?” 

He stammered. “You’re the one who laced our fingers together.” 

She blushed. “Well, you said _mutual_.” 

They were quiet for a while as they walked beside one another. Suddenly, Bulma’s pager started to buzz. 

“Oh my gods. I have been given orders to apply for a deployment position with the force for travel to improve other ships.” Her eyes lit up as she stared at her pager. 

Something in him started to hurt. “How long is the deployment?” He already knew; he'd been on the committee that decided how long certain deployments were. 

“A year and a half. Wow. That’s a long time.” Bulma bit her lip and looked at him. “Should I take it?” 

He hesitated for a split second. “Yes.” 

He walked her home, and when she closed the door, he flew back to base with a strange weight in his chest that felt an awful lot like longing. She was leaving his atmosphere, and everything would feel ridiculously mundane without her. He was quite fond of her, and he wanted to see the fiery woman he’d first met again. She needed to find herself, but at least her mind had returned from her stay on the moon. He only wished he’d kissed her. 


	2. Now That She’s Back in The Atmosphere

The moment she’d left, Vegeta found himself feeling troubled. Work had become dreadfully mundane, and each time the prince walked past the hangar, all he heard were the grunts of the burly man who’d temporarily taken Bulma’s place. He was an eyesore, and a complete jackass. But not even in an intelligent manner— any time Vegeta hurled a half-assed insult at him, the man could only sputter in response before finally settling on a comment about Vegeta’s height. Leave it to his superiors to hire someone with a head full of rocks to replace the brightest mind employed. 

It was Friday. The worst day of the week. Friday meant the weekend where he’d spend his free time walking the same way he’d walked  _ her _ to her decision to say goodbye. Sure, she was scheduled to return, but her departure was still a sore spot in the depths of his thoughts. Vegeta was never one to think about things longer than was required for proper assessment, and yet, here he was, spending every moment in silence thinking about her. The captain was doing push-ups, sweat dripping from the chiseled muscles around his chest and shoulders. 

  1. _60\. 61. 62. 63…_



He counted to himself, completely oblivious to everyone else in the gym leaving in a rush. It wasn’t until he finished his set that he realized the gym was empty. This struck him as odd considering it had just been packed full. He wandered out of the gym with a towel around his shoulders, skin glistening under the warm lighting of the hallway he strode down. 

He heard chatter which grew louder as he approached the hangar. 

“The fuck is going on here?” He asked when he spotted Raditz. 

The taller Saiyan glanced at the captain before grinning. “It’s been a year and a half.” 

Vegeta’s heart pounded furiously in his chest. Had it really been a year and a half? He was lost in his thoughts until the roar of a transport ship started to get louder, and therefore, closer. In minutes, it was landing and muffled pop music could be heard blasting from within the ship. As the hatch slowly opened with a sharp hiss, the music poured out, and he saw the top of a blue head of hair. 

_ Tell me, did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded…? _

Fierce blue eyes scanned the area as Bulma walked down the hatch with a confident smile on her face. All of the men who’d gone to wait for her arrival stood silently, waiting for her to speak. They’d missed the tech she produced, and were particularly exhausted by the subpar work they’d been getting from her replacement. 

She kept walking until she stood in front of Vegeta. She stared up at him with a face he hadn’t seen in a long time. It was strong. Unafraid. Confident. She was back. Back in the atmosphere. Back in his world. He needed to respond accordingly. 

“Took you long enough to get here.” He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“And here I thought you’d greet me with an insult worth my time.” She quipped. 

“Tch. Bothersome earth wench.” 

“Arrogant asshole.” 

They smiled at one another for another moment before Raditz stepped forward. “Not to cut...whatever this is short, but  _ sweet merciful  _ **_gods_ ** , Bulma. Never leave us again. Your tech was sorely missed, and I  _ guess _ by extension so were you.” Raditz grinned. 

“Dick. Don’t worry, I had plenty of time over the past year and a half to work on some new stuff.” She turned to the rest of the men. “I come bearing gifts!” She said, holding up a handful of capsules. 

The men cheered loudly, and a few even dramatically wiped tears from their eyes, overly grateful that their tech wouldn’t be complete shit anymore. “Fuck, Bulma, I could kiss you!” Turles yelled. 

“ _ But he won’t. _ ” Fasha yelled with a frown. 

“I might.” Raditz winked. 

“No, you won’t.” Vegeta surprised them by speaking up, and they all became quiet again, staring in surprise at his interjection. “Sexual harassment, idiots.” Vegeta rolled his eyes. 

Bulma smiled warmly. “Well, I’d best get to work. I’m going to the Asteroid Lounge tonight for drinks. You all should come— I’m buying.”

The men cheered again. 

“My friends from earth will be there as well, so you assholes better be nice to them or no fancy tech for you.” 

There was a resounding “awww” and Bulma laughed. 

Eventually, it was just Bulma and Vegeta in the hangar. He had so much to say, but he was never one for words. Vegeta’s mind was overflowing with things he wanted to say, but he refused to spill his guts to her. Especially since, much to his chagrin, she hadn’t tried to contact him at all. Not that she’d been obligated to, but if she’d felt even a fraction of  _ something _ for him, she’d have reached out, right? It didn’t matter at this point. Bulma was a coworker and nothing more. He was just glad she was back to work and annoying everyone with her pop music blaring while she worked. 

That evening, Bulma stepped into the bar and saw several Saiyans grinning at her and tipping their drinks toward her. She grinned back and shot an encouraging thumbs up. Her eyes scanned the main room, looking for someone. His black spiky hair and handsome face were sure to stand out in the crowd, and Bulma was ready to tell him how she felt. When she finally saw him, she darted over toward him and threw her arms around his neck with a big smile on her face. 

“Yamcha!” She said happily. 

He grinned down at the blue haired beauty. “Hi, B! How was space?” 

“It was good, yknow? Gave me a lot of time to think and not be afraid of my attacker. I also learned a lot of self defense! It was awesome.” Bulma beamed. “Anyway, Yamcha?”

“Hm?” He continued looking down at her with a smile. 

“Space made me realize that… we belong together.” 

The smile faded from Yamcha’s face and Bulma rushed to try and do damage control. He stopped her with a kiss. 

“I’m glad you think so too, Bulma.” Yamcha said before kissing her again. 

“Oh, Gods, not this shit again.” Piccolo mumbled to himself when he saw the two kissing. He’d been seated at a high top table with several of Bulma’s earth friends.

Goku seemed not to notice as he stuffed his face with the greasy food in front of him.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure that’ll end well.” Tien mumbled to his green friend before taking a long pull from his beer.

“Oh, Bulma. Please go get you a sexy Saiyan man.” ChiChi sighed. “And preferably one who likes you more than he likes food.” She shot a pointed glare at her husband 

“She’s just trying to fill that weird void inside of her chest with familiarity. It’s definitely not going to last.” 18 said, taking a swig of her gin and tonic. 

ChiChi took a sip of her frozen sunset margarita and shook her head. “That’s what worries me. I don’t know if the two of them will be able to bear it this time around when they call it quits again. Poor Yamcha sat in his house and drank nothing but water and ate nothing but potato chips for six weeks.” 

“Well she did tell me about her boss, so like, at least there’s hope for her.” 18 said, looking over at the couple. “Sure, they look all cuddly with each other now, but believe me. She’ll come to her senses, and I’m willing to bet all of Krillin’s next four paychecks that she finds comfort with that sexy grouchy man.” She nodded toward Vegeta who stood casually leaning against a wall with a beer in one hand, and his other hand stuffed into the pocket of the earth clothes his irritating coworkers had insisted that he purchase.

“I hope so.” 

Bulma leaned into Yamcha’s chest, both arms wrapped around his abdomen. He rested his hand on her shoulder, and for the first time in a long time, the two of them felt whole again. Bulma sighed contentedly as she grabbed her drink and laughed and chatted with her friends and coworkers. 

Unbeknownst to them all, a pair of onyx eyes looked away from the couple and down to the floor in disappointment. At least she was happy, right? That’s all that mattered. She was happy, even if it had nothing to do with him. He’d be her friend still, for the rest of her life. She’d been the only creature to ever make his heart skip a beat, and that meant everything to Vegeta.

* * *

Bulma hummed to the tune blasting from her radio as she slid beneath a ship on her creeper to work on its underbelly. When she slid back out, she found Vegeta seemingly preoccupied as he stared at a stack of papers in his hand. She sat up and wiped the sweat off of her face. “Hey, Vegeta.” She smiled. “What can i do for you?” 

He glanced over at her, and quickly looked away to conceal the blush that spread on his cheeks. Her flimsy, white, ribbed tank top was low cut and showed off a generous amount of cleavage, and her bra was somewhat visible through it. He also didn’t want to stare. 

“Captain?” She stood and walked over to him. 

“I was just wondering if you had been informed of the next gala.” He said, finally looking at her. 

“Oh, no. I haven’t.” She said, smiling at him again. 

“I see. Well, it’ll be a week from today in Ballroom Delta. It’s formal wear, but not black tie like last time. It’s encouraged that you wear something colorful.” He said matter-of-factly. 

Bulma grinned. “Am I going as your date again?”

“Not this time. I just wanted to invite you.” Vegeta said. 

The smile faded from Bulma’s face. “Then I don’t think I’ll attend.” 

He looked her in the eye. “Why is that?” 

“Why would I want to go to a big event where I don’t really personally know anyone if there’s no one I can cling to? That’s an anxiety attack  _ waiting  _ to happen. I may have gotten through a lot of trauma during my time away, but that’s something I still struggle with.” She turned to walk away when she felt it. 

His gloved hand gently wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back to face him. “I just didn’t want to ask and put you in an odd position.” 

“Oh?” 

“You're in a relationship, are you not?” 

Bulma laughed. “I am, but it’s not like we’d be alone together or doing anything wrong, right? Besides, Yamcha goes out and makes appearances with his friends who are female. It’s not a big deal.” She shrugged. “So, am I your date?”

“Yes. You are.” Vegeta said, letting go of her wrist. 


End file.
